October-2015 Update

The lamppost baskets in the park will be taken down on October 8th in the morning.  That’s a sure sign that fall has arrived on the island!   Thank you to Peggy and John Leopold who are heading up the basket take down project and to the many community volunteers who help accomplish this task.  Now the planning begins for next year's programs, as well as projects that will help beautify the island.  The Garden Club has already decided that it will be hosting another House and Garden Tour next July.
 
For the final program of the 2015 season, Garden Club members traveled to Sandusky on September 10 where landscape manager Martha Beverick treated them to a tour of the Cedar Point Gardens.   Since the park is closed on weekdays after Labor Day, Garden Club members were privileged to tour the park with no other visitors in sight.  Landscapers were busy adding fall plants to the gardens in preparation for the HalloWeekends ahead.  Hundreds of bales of hay and 50,000 pounds of fresh pumpkins had just arrived on site and would become part of the landscape for what Beverly described as the busiest weekends of their year.  Garden Club members learned that only twenty-one landscapers, including six full-time mowers, maintain all of Cedar Point's beautiful gardens and landscape properties in Sandusky.  Beverly discussed the care of the plants as well as the plant combinations in the various gardens.  She and her crew are in charge of designing and maintaining the gardens, but she purchases the plants from various growers in the region.  Participants agreed that the tour was an enlightening educational experience, as well as a wonderful peek behind the scenes at a naked Cedar Point Amusement Park.
 
The Garden Club's annual meeting/potluck dinner was held on Wednesday, September 16 at the Yacht Club.  New Board members, Pati Arth, treasurer, and Kathy Schroeder, social director, were welcomed to the Board.   Thank you to Kate Ptak who provided the after-dinner fun with a Power Point of her original photos and a “Name the Flower" game that stumped even the stars!
 
Garden Club members Jody Frimel, Susan Hildebrandt, and Sue Thwaite have been working with All Seasons Landscapers to design new gardens to surround the lift station areas in DeRivera Park.  The work will be funded by the Village and in part by the Garden Club, and the gardens will be planted this fall.  We are excited to be able to enhance the park’s appearance and create new focal points there for tourists to enjoy.
 
And now on to winter.  Enjoy the beautiful colors of October’s landscape.  Remember to fertilize your lawn and shrubs the fall and to mulch your gardens before winter snows arrive.  Let’s hope for a mild winter this year, but just in case, get that firewood ready!  Warmest wishes from the Garden Club to you!  See you next spring!